


Passion Fruits.

by demonsonthemoon



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: First Date, M/M, Newt is not feeling well and Hermann is nice, Panic Attack, Sensory Overload, passionate rants about stars and biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 04:22:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5320277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsonthemoon/pseuds/demonsonthemoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt had been looking forward to this movie. For weeks. But of course the girl sitting two seats next to him would ruin everything by makin more noise than Newt thought could be humanly possible while eating nachos.</p>
<p>The fact that the girl's date didn't seem thriled either was a... good thing?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passion Fruits.

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning for: sensory overload, panic attack.
> 
> Written for a Newmannuendo prompt on tumblr: "outings".

Newt cringed. He cringed, then sighed as he tried to relax the fingers that had been gripping the armrest of his seat.

He did his best to focus on the huge screen in front of him, where characters were shouting at each other. But then the person two seats to his right decided to take another mouthful of nachos, and proceded to chew them in the loudest manner Newt had ever heard.

He had come to the cinema to relax. He had come here to watch the new film out of his favorite franchise, in an attempt to forget about university, about the itch of anxiety under his skin and about all the things that were wrong in the world.

He felt anything but relaxed right now. It honestly baffled him how someone could eat so loudly it could be heard over the sound of buildings crumbling under Godzilla's footsteps. And he _got it_ , to be honest, he really did, sometimes you just have to eat and you don't want to do it the polite way and stuffing nachos into your mouth just feels easier and that's _fine_. Newt _got_ that. But there, right then, the girl in question wasn't just eating. She was eating _during a movie_ and without any regard to the people around her.

Actually, from what he could see, the guy to his right was nearly as annoyed with her as Newt was. And Newt was pretty sure that him and the girl were meant to be on a date. So yes, Newt's anger was perfectly justified. He was here to watch a Godzilla movie, not to listen to some girl eating nachos. If he had wanted to listen to a girl eating nachos he would have gone... somewhere else. He wasn't really sure, there's not really a place you go to to listen to people eat. Or is there ? Newt wasn't a judgemental person. If some people wanted to get off on the sounds of nachos being chewed, it was their choice and Newt could respect that. _As long as they did it somewhere else than two seats away from him in a cinema_.

The girl took a sip from her coke, thankfully without making sound this time. Newt relaxed on his seat and stared back at the screen, trying to grasp what was going after having missed so much of the film.

Then the girl burped, loudly, without even putting a hand in front of her mouth, and Newt jumped in surprise and nearly fell out from his seat.

His hands were shaking now, and he could feel all the tell-tale signs of an episode of sensory overload, and it made him want to cry. He had been waiting for weeks to be able to see this movie. He had been working on a lab report for the whole month and hadn't been able to free his time until this day, and now he would probably have to leave the room without actually having seen the film, and he had had to _pay_ for his ticket, damnit, this was not _fair_ , this was _terrible_.

He felt fingers touch his arm, which was once against gripping the armrest like a life-line. Newt looked up to see a teenager looking at him worriedly.

« Are you okay ? » the boy whispered. _Ah, blissful whisper._ He had to be nearly the same age as Newt. Maybe a year older ? Around 18 or 19 ? He also had a ridiculous hipster haircut that totally did not fit the tartan sweater/collared shirt combo he was wearing. Since Newt was staring instead of replying, he repeated his question. « Are you alright ? »

Out of habit, Newt nodded. Then, with a frown, he slowly shaked his head.

The young man threw a glance at the girl next to him, who was still eating and seemed completely focused on the screen, then looked back at Newt. « Do you want to get out of here ? »

Newt nodded furiously at that. His head was spinning and he couldn't make out what the characters on the screen were saying, what with the pounding sound of his own heartbeat. Newt gave a last look at the eating girl as the stranger took him by the arm and dragged him out of the room. She didn't even look at them, entranced by the movie and the soda in her hands.

As soon as the door was closed, behind them, Newt sat down against the wall. He closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing, focusing as much as possible on the _absence_ of loud noises. When he looked up again, the boy who had dragged him out was hovering above him. Newt was only now noticing that he had a walking stick held in one hand.

The stranger interrupted Newt's staring once again. « Are you okay ? »

« It's the third time you ask me that, » Newt pointed out, not really helping.

The other man sighed and started to turn around as if to leave.

« Wait ! » Newt exclaimed, stopping him. « No, sorry. What I meant to say is... uh... Thank you. For dragging me out of there. And, like... I'm okay. I mean, I'll be okay. It's fine. »

« Do you get panic attacks regularly ? »

« What ? Oh. » Newt shrugged. « Sometimes. It wasn't really a panic attack. I've just been under a lot of stress lately and... well, the noise your friend was making... »

The stranger scrunched up his nose in a manner that Newt could only describe as adorable. « I'm terribly sorry for her behaviour. She... » He paused, apparently wondering how to describe the girl in polite enough terms.

« You kind of left her alone, there, » Newt pointed out.

The other young man gripped his cane harder and looked away a bit. « She'll be fine. I... I'm not sure why I came here with her in the first place. »

Newt frowned. « Weren't you on a date ? »

The stranger sighed. « We were. My brother set it up because he wanted me to go out. Maybe it was to prove something, to me or to my parents, I don't know. I wasn't really interested, but I thought that nothing could go wrong if we just went to the cinema together. »

« Ah. Not your smartest move, apparently. »

« Indeed not. »

« Also, your brother is a dick. »

They stayed silent for a bit. Newt was feeling better, although still a bit shaky, so he slowly stood up. The stranger kept watching him with worry in his eyes, apparently ready to bounce to Newt's rescue if it was needed. It was almost too sweet, really, Newt thought. Especially since they hadn't even exchanged names. He extended a hand. « I'm Newton. Call me Newt. »

The other frowned, but shook the hand that was offered to him. « Hermann. »

« Well, Hermann, thanks again for getting me out of there. Now, I'm not sure what the etiquette is when you're with someone who just dumped their date to take care of you when you were experiencing sensory overload but... » Newt put on his best smile and looked up. « Would you like to come and grab a bite with me ? »

That was acceptable, right ? Newt thought so. Hermann was supposed to be on a date, but he had left his date, so it was definitely okay to ask him to be Newt's date. Definitely.

« I mean, of course you don't have to. And like, if you've already eaten, it's fine, I just... »

« Okay. » Hermann said simply.

Newt had to ask for confirmation, unsure of himself. « Okay ? »

« I'm quite hungry myself, and I don't have anything planned for the next two hours or so, so why not ? »

« Awesome ! »

They started walking down the empty corridor and exited the cinema. The air was warm for a November evening and there was no wind at all. They started looking for somewhere to eat, but Newt had to say no when Hermann pointed to a fast-food joint.

« Sorry. I don't really feel like being in a place with too many people right now. »

« That's understandable. » Hermann replied, nodding. « There's a small park not far from here. We can just get Döner to go and eat there ? I don't mind walking. »

« Sure. That's fine by me. »

They bought their food and walked in silence for a while. They then settled on a bench, shoulders brushing what with the limited space. Not that Newt minded.

Hermann was handsome, all sharp angles and serious eyes. The tips of his ears were a bit red from being outside. So yeah, Newt would readily admit that he found him attractive. Also, the guy was _nice_. Like, not nice in a « oh, poor puppy, let me take care of you » way, but nice in a « I do not know you but I will make sure you do not die and then pretend that nothing is wrong with you while we eat Döner in a park » way.

« So, um. What do you do ? »

Hermann stopped looking at the cloudy sky and focused again on Newton. « I'm a student. First year of bachelor in Physics. Why ? »

« No reason ? I'm trying to get to know you ? » Newt held up his hands in a placating gesture, but accidentally dropped food on his pants at the same time. « Shit. » He picked up his Döner again and started rubbing at the stain before giving up. « But anyway, it's cool. Science, I mean. Science is cool. I'm not really a math person myself, but I can respect that. »

« Really ? » Hermann frowned. « And what do _you_ do, then ? »

« Biology. » Newt said. Actually he was finishing a double master in bio-engineering and bio-chemistry, but he didn't really want to go on about that right now. And nobody had to know that he kind of also wanted to go into neurochemistry. « Loads of science. »

Hermann scoffed, but smiled slightly. He kept on eating slowly, and looked up to the sky once again. Newt followed his example and raised his eyes too.

« Shame that we can't see the stars, » he said.

Hermann hummed in approval.

Newt turned to look at him. His face was only illuminated on the left side by a lamppost a few meter's to Newt's right. The yellow glow made his hair appear lighter and his skin golden. « You like them, uh ? » Hermann turned towards Newt, confused. He pointed at the sky. « The stars, I mean. »

Hermann looked up again and smiled softly. « I do. They're fascinating. You know how the light we see has actually traveled for years before it reaches us ? » Newt nodded. « I find it comforting. Dead stars can still be observed from earth years after they've died. And there are some that have been there for decades but are so far away that their light hasn't reached us yet. It's like there are two different ways of being alive. You can be alive through the eyes of others, or through your own eyes, or both. But what other people see of you will always be different than what you are, because the distance between you, yourself and others is different. »

« Wow. That's... uh. Okay. » Newt really hadn't expected such a passionate and philosophical speech. He didn't really know how he could react to something so sincere.

« Please don't mock me, » Hermann said with a cutting voice.

« No no no ! » Newt immediately exclaimed. « I'm not laughing at you ! I'm just confused. And surprised ? Completely baffled, to be honest. »

Hermann looked away. « Tss. Of course. I don't know why I shared this with you. It's not like you... »

Newt interrupted his bitter diatribe by putting a finger on his lips. It probably wasn't the most sanitary thing to do since they had just been eating, but it shocked Hermann into silence.

« Shh. Shh, okay ? » Newt dropped his hand but gave Hermann a pointed look to make sure he wouldn't interrupt. « I won't pretend that I understand what space apparently means to you. But I'm not laughing at you either ! I understand passion, dude. Looking at things you can't fathom and feeling like you belong ? I _get that_. Sometimes I look at my own body and it feels like it's a million miles away, like I'm detached from it and I'll never fit inside again because it's tiny or because it's weak or because it's just _not right_ somehow. But then I actually look. I look and I can see the shape of bones and tendons. I can see veins, I can feel my hear pumping blood through my whole body. I can see a million small things happening all at once inside my own body, just so that _I_ can live, and that ? That's _my_ space. I'm a biology person. You're not. But hey ! It doesn't mean we're that different from each other ! »

Without realising, Newt had turned himself completely towards Hermann, and their faces were now only a few inches from each other's.

Newt was still trying to get his breath back when Hermann asked : « Can I kiss you ? »

Newt closed the gap between them out of pure instinct. Their lips were already pressed together when he realised what he was doing, but it was too late to stop now. He couldn't stop. Not when a warm breath was mixing with his, when a hand was kindly holding his arm and pulling him closer.

Hermann pulled away after a few seconds though, looking into Newt's eyes.

« I think your brother might be surprised by how this evening turned out. »

Hermann rolled his eyes. « Please shut up, Newton. »

« I'm still kind of pissed I didn't get to watch Godzilla. I was actually looking forward to this movie. »

Hermann pulled on his arm again and pressed his lips against Newt's once more. Yeah, that was fine. He had been done talking anyway.


End file.
